A win is not always just another win. Sacramento State defeating Oregon State is a huge step for the Hornets this season and could be for years to come.

It’s not every day a school achieves the biggest win in the history of its program.

The Hornets traveled to Corvallis, Ore., with more than 41,000 cheering fans expecting an easy season opener. The Beavers were supposed to win by nearly four touchdowns. Oregon State is a program that has produced perennial pro-bowl NFL players.

None of that mattered as the Hornets silenced the crowd by showing this is a team with more than just potential. It’s a team that can bring a new level of excitement to Hornet Stadium on Saturdays and to campus during the week.

Walking around campus, students are wearing Sac State clothing on any given day, but how often is it because of a buzz due to an impending game? Causeway Classic aside, when do students talk about being excited for Hornet football?

Not often enough to generate a sense of pride all over campus. However, that could change this season. Winning often cures all problems and creates interest that can be contagious.

For the last three seasons, then Hornets have been average – literally. The team’s record is 17-17, with the majority of their games against other Football Championship Subdivision teams (formerly known as Division I-AA) in the Big Sky Conference.

There is only so much excitement a .500 team can create.

The past two seasons they started out like this year, going out on the road, playing a heavily favored Football Bowl Subdivision team (formerly known as Division I-A) and the results weren’t pretty.

Opening against Stanford and UNLV, the Hornets lost a combined 90-20.

The third time was a charm as the Hornets took a huge gamble in hostile territory, pulling off a shocking and thrilling overtime win. Going into the season opener, the Hornets had a record of complete futility against FBS opponents, going 0-10.

Beating a FBS team that has been to four bowl games in the last six years, this is a victory the Hornets can grow upon. Granted, Oregon State was missing some starting players and is not a threat to win the Pac-12 this year; it’s still an impressive feat.

Confidence for current players, film for future players to study and proof the Hornets can stand up to larger programs for recruiters to highlight when talking to prospective players.

Students, faculty and alumni do not get to turn on ESPN and see the Hornets playing and thousands of fans in green and gold going nuts. Saturday, Sac State got a taste of that with the Hornets making it to No. 8 on “Sportcenters Top 10 Plays.”

It may be some time before that happens and odds are there will be a disappointing setback game or two in seasons to come; that’s football. This season when Oregon State is being televised, though, it’s likely the Hornets’ game-clinching catch will be shown.

But the transformation of Sac State being a college with sports teams that win but get little recognition, to one where people get fired up about their teams is real. Having strong soccer and gymnastics teams is great, but they don’t galvanize the student body like a winning football team can.

That level of excitement manifested itself over social media sites on Saturday as news of the upset spread from Twitter feeds to Facebook wall postings. Sac State became a nationally trending topic on Twitter.

The win put Sac State football in headlines in local newspapers and mainstream news sites, something fans of Hornet football never get to see but could certainly get used to.

Sac State’s previous championship-winning seasons were accomplished by volleyball, tennis and track, but winning in football is a much bigger deal and has been elusive. The attention a winning basketball or football team draws is something that Sac State has not yet seen and would benefit from greatly.

If this level of play is maintained, the attitude from walking around campus could be noticeably different. Playing their home opener riding a three-game win streak would lead to an incredibly raucous crowd at Hornet Stadium.

Beyond having a team everyone could be proud of, a strong team will help financially as well. Football has and always will be a cash cow for collegiate athletics for major programs across the country, a potential boon for the school and could really help our athletics department create more revenue.

It’s a great time to be a Hornet. Let us hope this momentum only continues throughout the next 10 games of the season.